EDCUtah is pleased to welcome the following organizations as new investors to our economic development circle:

Gexpro

Michael Best and Friedrich LLP

Jive Communications

Center for Excellence in Higher Education

Junior Achievement

Credit Corp Solutions

EnergySolutions

As a public/private organization, we rely heavily on our investors for their support. The partnerships we share truly make Utah unique. As with all of our investors, we look forward to working with you to build Utah's economy.

Also, please note the "Moab on the Edge" business enhancement summit is coming up June 27 at the Utah State University-Moab campus. The summit focuses on local business challenges and offers practical information and workshops to help businesses thrive in what is often a difficult, competitive environment. The free event runs from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and comes with complimentary breakfast and lunch. Details about the event can be found here.

Today's Economic Review also includes links to many of the ED-related news stories from the past week. As always, if you have comments, suggestions or topics you'd like to see in the Economic Review, please contact us by clicking the "Comments" link on the bottom of this page. Enjoy!

Jeff Edwards President and CEO

The Utah Pavilion at the ICSC RECON show in Las Vegas

Feature StoryAll Smiles at ICSC RECON

The smiles said it all. People stopping by the Utah Pavilion in May at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon Las Vegas, the global retail real estate convention, were blithe to see Utah's signs and connect with the contingency of cities and counties participating in the pavilion with EDCUtah and the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

"Typically, the visitors had some type of affiliation with Utah that they were fond of, such as a retail deal they have done or want to do in the state, a ski trip or some good vibes they had heard about Utah," says EDCUtah Chief Operating Officer Todd Brightwell. "And the positive buzz about Utah seems to get stronger every year. The state is on the map for a lot of things relative to the economy, and the increased amount of energy we experienced at ICSC has been building for the past several years."

ICSC is the largest retail real estate convention in the world, and having a Utah pavilion there is a priority for EDCUtah because of its desire to support the state's cities and counties in their retail development efforts. The National Retail Federation says retail supports 384,340 jobs in Utah and is directly and indirectly responsible for 19 percent of the state's gross domestic product.

Much of the preparations for ICSC happen in advance of the actual show. Participants in the Utah Pavilion were able to use EDCUtah's Retail Lease Track, a demographic software program, to generate leads and pre-match their retail interests with the needs of retailers. Brightwell says the software inputs come from retailers as they identify the types of demographics and properties they are interested in. "By using Retail Lease Track, our community and county participants were able to do targeted research in preparation for the show, set up advance meetings and make their convention attendance much more productive," he adds.

No one appreciates Retail Lease Track more than Brigham Mellor, economic development director for Salt Lake County. "Almost everyone we talked to was someone who wanted to talk to us and was interested in what we had to present because we had already reviewed their requirements and found we were a fit for their retail product," he says. "That meant we had already done the first round of due diligence before we even met with them."

Mellor says he made solid contacts to follow up with after the show "and that made ICSC a successful experience for us. With help from EDCUtah and its resources, we were very systematic in our pursuit of retailers. By marrying demographics and economic data from our jurisdictions with those specified from the retailers, we developed some perfect leads," he notes.

Some of Salt Lake County's most promising prospects were hotel chains the county wants to court for the Mt. Olympus area in Millcreek Township. Mellor says he knew he wanted to speak with a hotel before attending ICSC, and several months in advance of the ICSC show he participated with other Utah municipal economic development teams in a luncheon hosted by EDCUtah. "While we are all competitors in our different municipal jurisdictions, we were there to talk about the show and share best practices," he reflects. "I mentioned to the group that we wanted to talk to some hotels. Our colleagues told us to learn from their mistakes by making sure we had a feasibility study done on the potential hotel site with regard to hospitality before we went to ICSC. Otherwise, the hotels wouldn't even talk to us."

Mellor says he took counsel to heart and asked the University of Utah Metropolitan Research Center "to crank out a feasibility study over a month's time." Just like his colleagues warned, the first question asked by the hotel representatives was, "Do you have a feasibility study for the project area?" "We did, and they were willing to keep talking to us," he says.

Brightwell says the example of different municipal jurisdictions working together makes Utah unique. "We have something pretty special here in Utah in terms of how we communicate with each other," he continues. "These communities compete with each other for retail opportunities, but despite that competition, there is a significant amount of information sharing and camaraderie that takes place. There is pride in being part of the Utah delegation and helping each other succeed."

In another example, he says ICSC show veterans in Utah often mentor the novice municipal leaders, teaching them how to navigate the show, what challenges to expect and how to overcome them. That leadership and mentoring was typified this year by the participation of former Murray Mayor Lynn Pett, an emeritus member of EDCUtah's executive committee. Although he is retired, Pett is a veteran economic developer and an "icon of the connections between cities and government," says Brightwell. "Lynn was such a great addition to our Utah contingency, and we were so grateful to have him there."

This year EDCUtah and GOED expanded the annual pre-convention reception, holding it at the Bellagio Hotel on a Sunday evening after the first day of the show. The RSVP list included some 545 attendees and about 330 people showed up. "It is was a phenomenal event and has elevated the ICSC show for the Utah contingency," says Brightwell. "The reception was a nice blend of the public and private sectors coming together with meaningful connections being made on the retail front."

The reception was hosted by Coldwell Banker Commercial, Cushman & Wakefield / Commerce Real Estate Solution, InterNet Properties Inc., Mountain West Retail Investment, Pentad Properties, PPC Commercial Real Estate, Situs Retail Group, Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development and EDCUtah. It was designed to get Utah's communities and developers together with retailers and their representatives interested in Utah and fostered a good feeling and provided a significant opportunity for the Utah contingency to network. Generous sponsors included brokerages, developers and municipalities.

"Our sponsors created a classy event, a great model for how to generate connections at ICSC, and our pavilion partners appreciated it," Brightwell continues. "The reception was really done well. In fact, if it was like this every year, it would be tremendous."

For his part, Mellor says he has always viewed economic development like throwing darts at a dartboard. "If you throw enough darts you will eventually hit the bullseye. When we walked into the convention center on the first day we had 60 packets with us, displaying our retail options available in unincorporated Salt Lake County. I came home with nine. Thanks to EDCUtah and good advice from our friends in neighboring municipal economic development teams, we were able to throw 51 'retail darts' in two and a half days at the ICSC show," he explains. "We are excited about the relationships we made at the ICSC show and so are the developers we have been working with."

Investor SpotlightWatts Construction

Watts Construction, an EDCUtah investor since 2004, has been doing business in Utah since 1968. In 1984, the company moved its operations to southern Utah, where it has focused on commercial and industrial projects in Washington and surrounding counties. Owner and CEO Doug Watts says his company has capitalized on construction management and design-build to achieve success in projects such as motels, restaurants and shopping districts of more than 120,000 square feet, and in collaborating with Washington City on a $17-million community center. The company has also assisted with the site selection, design and construction of many large manufacturing projects for companies like Viracon in St. George and Genpak in Cedar City.

Watts says his company shares a deep sense of history with southern Utah and strongly supports its economic development. Watts Construction has been involved with the Washington County Economic Development Council (now called Site Select Plus) since the late 1990s. Watts served as chairman of the economic development organization from 2003-05 and also served on EDCUtah's board of directors during that same period. He currently serves as chairman of the Associated General Contractors of Utah.

"Some of my greatest experiences have been helping EDCUtah and Site Select Plus bring value-added businesses to Utah," Watts says. "When you get to be involved with site location, manufacturing processes, design and construction and see it all come together, it is an amazing experience and creates so much opportunity for many people. I believe it is the most rewarding personal aspect of my business, and I appreciate the opportunities that have come my way."

For more information visit wattsconst.com or call 435-673-9096.

Calendar

June 12 "Exploring the Myths and Misconceptions of Employer Sponsored Healthcare Plans." Hays Company Seminar. Keynote speaker: David Ross – executive vice president of Underwriting Services, June 12 from 1:30-4 p.m. (Little America Hotel, Salt Lake City). RSVP for this seminar by sending an email to bchristensen@hayscompanies.com or by calling 801-505-6508.

The EDCUtah Economic Review is a weekly publication of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. It is distributed to EDCUtah partners and selected other government and civic organizations interested in Utah's economic development.

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Provo-Orem ranked number one for best information jobs, Salt Lake City ranked ninth Newgeography has ranked the Provo-Orem metro as the best place for information jobs among medium-sized cities and Salt Lake City ninth among large cities.(Newgeography) (Newgeograpy)

Provo-Orem ranks sixth in economic and job growth Area Development ranks the Provo-Orem metro sixth for economic and job growth in its "Leading Locations for 2014" analysis. Salt Lake City ranked 27th.(Area Development)

Logan ranks 15th in a study of the regional impact of quality of life on entrepreneurial decisions Area Development says that when comparing competing metro areas, the livability factor, or quality of life, makes certain areas more attractive to individuals and thus businesses. In that regard, Logan ranks 15th.(Area Development)

Ground broken for large industrial park in West Valley City West Valley City's lightly developed northwest corner is about to be transformed, with ground broken last week for a 2.3 million-square-foot industrial park projected to create 3,000 jobs.(Salt Lake Tribune) (Businesswire)

Moab businesses ask BLM to protect public lands for recreation economy Business owners in the Moab area are calling on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to balance oil and gas development with tourism and recreation as the agency puts together its long-term plan for public lands in the region.(Cache Valley Daily) (Nassau News)

Coalition honors trio for help building Salt Lake City small businesses Salt Lake City's Vest Pocket Business Coalition last week honored three individuals for their contributions to building neighborhood business districts.(Salt Lake Tribune)

Could Salt Lake City be asked to host 2022 Winter Games? With the race for the 2022 Winter Games growing increasingly unstable, could Salt Lake City be asked to host the Olympics for a second time in 20 years?(Deseret News)

Health care and video games: There's an app for that The Princeton Review ranks the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts and Engineering program (EAE) among the top five schools in the nation for both undergraduate and graduate programs.(USTAR)

Rocket Science takes off in southern Utah MotionPort, a distributor and developer of computer aided engineering software in St. George, has received a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award of $125,000 to develop an application that will simulate deployable space structures, specifically roll-out solar arrays.(USTAR)

New software start-up demonstrates the power of growth DemoChimp, a software as a service company that intelligently automates product demonstrations for sales and marketing professionals, has received two Go-To-Market grants from Utah Valley University's Business Resource Center, enabling the company to pay for its initial lead generation prospecting contact lists.(USTAR)

USU sued by Nevada company A Nevada global weather business recently sued local philanthropist and venture capitalist Alan E. Hall along with Utah State University in federal court for allegedly trying to drive the company out of business by revealing its trade secrets for a new weather prediction technology, according to court records.(Standard-Examiner)

USU and BYU research shows minority entrepreneurs face greater challenges Minority entrepreneurs who feel their road to success is more difficult than others may not be imagining things, according to a study by professors at Utah State University and Brigham Young University.(Utah Business)

Salt Lake area ranks 11th for fitness Salt Lake City has been ranked the 11th fittest of the nation's 50 largest metro areas. The American Fitness Index (AFI), a report by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Wellpoint, ranked cities based on preventive health behaviors, levels of chronic disease conditions, and community resources and policies that support physical activity.(Utah Business)

Multimillion-dollar adventure park set to become destination point "Evermore," a destination theme park to be built on 45 acres near I-15 in Pleasant Grove, is to be a combination fantasy land and adventure park, staffed by professional actors who will help visitors immerse themselves into stories, mystery and magic.(Deseret News)

Governor Names New Chief of Staff Gov. Gary R. Herbert has named Justin Harding as his new chief of staff. Harding has served several members of Utah's congressional delegation including his most recent position as chief of staff to Rep. Jason Chaffetz for the past five years.(Utah Policy) (Salt Lake Tribune) (Deseret News)

Salt Lake City seeks fed grant to expand streetcar line If Salt Lake City gets a $10.6 million federal grant to extend the Sugar House Streetcar line to the intersection of 2100 South and Highland Drive, the City Council has pledged tentatively to come up with $3.1 million in required matching funds.(Salt Lake Tribune)

Billion-dollar conservation program targets Colorado River Basin The Colorado River Basin was identified last week as one of eight priority areas across the nation under a new program that will parlay more than a billion dollars into conservation projects.(Deseret News)

Utah praised for its generosity The Washington Post's Reid Wilson spotlights two recent studies showing that more Utahns give time and money to charity than residents of any other state. (Washington Post)

Provo hits sweet 16 in magazine's 'best place to live' competition In a game to be named America's Best Place to Live, Provo has reached the sweet 16 and is going for a total upset.(KSL)

Plan to 'save' UTOPIA advances in WVC The West Valley City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of proceeding with milestone two of its investigation of the Macquarie Proposal Tuesday.(KSL) (Salt Lake Tribune)

Mars rover competition held in southern Utah University students from around the globe have come to southern Utah to participate in the University Rover Challenge.(KSL)